Henningsson: won impressively

We should put July down to Links golf as Carnoustie, Portmarnock and the Open venue would provide wonderful viewing during that month. You never know, it might just happen in the years ahead.

Ewen Murray
Quotes of the week

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Hello again, sorry for missing last week's column, but I was shattered after Shanghai and couldn't put one word in front of another!

I read your comments on the last column and here are some of my thoughts on them.

To Jose Coyle and Darragh McMenamin, our moments of the year were that rather than the best shot of the year. Padraig's wonderful 5 wood at the 17th en route to winning the Open at Royal Birkdale I'm sure will be shot of the year, and so it should be. What a time to produce that kind of brilliance. I suspect Richard Finch's dip in the river at the Irish Open will be a close second.

Les Calderwood enthused about more Irish talent emerging in the shape of Michael Hoey and Jonathan Caldwell and made interesting points about how the pound, the euro and the US dollar will affect the Tours around the globe.

We will have to wait and see Les, at the moment, I try to avoid the financial pages as the only thing we can be sure of is poor news. Don't drink all off that wine in South Africa as we look forward to finishing off the season at Leopard Creek and Paarl.

Alfonso Martinez heard whispers about a big event in southern Spain. Alfonso, the match play there next year will be a great attraction to the Costa del Sol, and I believe another possibility may be in the pipeline. The Singapore Open becomes part of the Tour next year, so no worries about clashing with any other event.

Matt Southcombe wonders if the Race to Dubai will attract more big names to the European Tour. Already Matt, Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim have joined and I'm of the opinion several more are thinking about it and some will sign up.

It's not the European answer to the Fed-Ex Cup, as that has gone a little pear shaped, but it does herald a new dawn in Europe. We will see how it all pans out over the next twelve months.

Exciting times

Julia Roberts and Rob Walker spoke warmly of Wayne Riley's contribution to our commentary team. Chris Dunn was of another opinion. One cannot please everyone Chris and one of the worst parts of this job is criticism, but it happens and will continue to do so.

Wayne is different I agree, but he has a strong passion for the job and the game in general and I think that comes out on screen, you also said you marvel at the new European Tour and I can understand why. Taking on the might of the PGA Tour was not easy, but CEO George O'Grady has done that with outstanding success.

These are exciting times for all who is involved and that of course includes you as Sky Sports now have this new venture in front of us. For the first time, we will have the BBC events live on Thursday and Friday with extensive highlights in Golf Night at the weekend.

The World Golf Championships is with us for the next four years and to compliment that, long-term deals are signed to bring you the US Open and the US PGA.

My thanks to Andrew Norby who did "a Mickelson" with his Chinese writing. Phil learned over the last year to sign his name in Chinese much to the liking of those in Shanghai. Andrew, I left the "hooky" clubs alone, but I did buy a "Del Boy" watch known as a Shanghai Special. It has lasted the week!

I'm with you on the Scottish and Irish Opens. They should be either side of the Open or the two weeks before our great championship. We should put July down to Links golf as Carnoustie, Portmarnock and the Open venue would provide wonderful viewing during that month. You never know, it might just happen in the years ahead.

Quality

The European Tour school has just finished and well done to those who will join the Tour at this exciting time.

The pressure of playing at the qualifying school is awful, yet I'm amazed at the quality of the golf and the scoring.

A new name from Sweden, Oskar Henningsson, won impressively managing five rounds in the sixties. We will look forward to seeing him for the first time, probably at Leopard Creek next month.

The superb talents of young Danny Willett and Chris Wood were enough to see them safely through. Willett fired a 63 in round three, Chris had four rounds in the 60s and by finishing in the top ten, they will get many chances to impress in 2009.

Since making the Walker Cup team at the turn of the Century, Michael Hoey has struggled to find his best form as a professional. His 67 in the final round in Spain will do much for his confidence.

Big league

On the Tartan Tour in Scotland, Chris Doak has dominated over the past two seasons. He now gets his chance in the big league and I look forward to following his progress.

Two former Ryder Cup players return to where they belong. Joakim Heaggman was the first Swede to play in the Ryder Cup 15 years ago. Sometimes players lose their way, other times injury and a lack of belief prove costly. Older and wiser, Joakim is capable of returning to the winners circle as is 1999 Ryder Cupper, Andrew Coltart.

I played with Andrew a few years back at my home club of Mannings Heath. He always impressed me with his ball striking, his calm manner and his consistency. Having moved back to his native Scotland, his alliance with top coach Colin Brooks has paid dividends and he now gets the chance of a second career. He is an all round decent chap and I wish him well.

Fellow countryman, David Drysdale also made it comfortably. He is far too good a player to have to go back to the school and this is not the first time he has had to do that.

It's time for him to get off to a good start and realise the talent he has. For those who missed out, it's another year on the Challenge Tour, for those who graduated, they are part of the Race to Dubai. They can chase their dreams, and as we all know, dreams can become a reality.